Alpkit Bouldering Mat Upgraded

Alpkit's Phud bouldering mats have happily adorned the bases of crags for a couple of years now. They've won a fair few friends along the way - mostly boulderers accelerating towards the ground at 9.87 metres per second squared. Still, two years old is a ripe old age - time enough for said plunging boulderers to tell Alpkit how comfy they found the fall. And because the guys at Alpkit are nice like that, they've taken the feedback on board - or on foam, as the case may be. So, the Phud has just had an upgrade ...

The Slider

No, that's not the last rock route you climbed in the drizzle. It's the buckle that fastens the mat and it used to be made out of plastic. That's been replaced with aluminium because it's more durable, and the design's also changed a bit, so you now get a quick release buckle. Oh yes, and no more velcro, so we can no longer while away the hours picking the grass out of it:-)

The mat's also got a new carry strap with sliders on it, so it's easy to carry around.

The 'V' Closure System

In place of linear straps, Alpkit have introduced 'V' closures, as in the photo below. When the bouldering mat's in use, they can be looped round tree stumps or other stationary objects to hold the mat in place. Also, the mat now has three straps securing it, rather than two, so all the extra climbing gear you bundle between the folded edges doesn't fall out when you lift the mat up.

A firmer landing

Some boulderers have said the Phud gives too soft a landing, so the latest version features a few tweaks to the density of the foam. The mat's always had two layers. The top one is made of closed-cell foam, which distributes the force of the fall across the entire landing surface. Underneath is a thicker, softer layer of open cell foam. The density of the closed-cell layer has now increased, to make it firmer, but the thickness has decreased. This allows for a thicker layer of the softer open-cell foam - which absorbs most of the energy - without adding to the overall volume.

Sounds complicated, but all you really need to know is that it's firmer without being any bulkier.

Cost, Care, and Extra Bits and Pieces

The good news is that the new-look Phud is the same price as the older model - that's a very decent £70 - so it shouldn't bruise either your wallet or your heels. If you like the look of the new features but you're already the proud owner of an earlier Phud, the sliders can be bought separately and added on simply by unpicking the velcro on the old mat. In fact, all the extra bits and pieces are available individually from Alpkit, so if something breaks you don't have to replace the whole lot. Sounds sensible to us.

One last piece of care and advice. The Alpkit website advises against using the Phud as a bed - apparently bouldering mats don't like it:-)

More information (and jokes) on the Alpkit website.